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Alchemy is generally understood to have been that art whose end was the transmutation of the so-called base metals into gold by means of an ill-defined something called the Philosopher's Stone; but even from a purely physical standpoint, this is a somewhat superficial view. Alchemy was both a philosophy and an experimental science, and the transmutation of the metals was its end only in that this would give the final proof of the alchemistic hypotheses; in other words, Alchemy, considered from the physical standpoint, was the attempt to demonstrate experimentally on the material plane the validity of a certain philosophical view of the Cosmos. We see the genuine scientific spirit in the saying of one of the alchemists: "Would to God . . . all men might become adepts in our Art -- for then gold, the great idol of mankind, would lose its value, and we should prize it only for its scientific teaching."1 Unfortunately, however, not many alchemists came up to this ideal; and for the majority of them, Alchemy did mean merely the possibility of making gold cheaply and gaining untold wealth.

By some mystics, however, the opinion has been expressed that Alchemy was not a physical art or science at all, that in no sense was its object the manufacture of material gold, and that its processes were not carried of Alchemy out on the physical plane. According to this transcendental theory, Alchemy was concerned with man's soul, its object was the perfection, not of material substances, but of man in a spiritual sense. Those who hold this view identify Alchemy with, or at least regard it as a branch of, Mysticism, from which it is supposed to differ merely by the employment of a special language; and they hold that the writings of the alchemists must not be understood literally as dealing with chemical operations, with furnaces, retorts, alembics, pelicans and the like, with salt, sulphur, mercury, gold and other material substances, but must be understood as grand allegories dealing with spiritual truths. According to this view, the figure of the transmutation of the "base" metals into gold symbolised the salvation of man -- the transmutation of his soul into spiritual gold -- which was to be obtained by the elimination of evil and the development of good by the grace of God; and the realisation of which salvation or spiritual transmutation may be described as the New Birth, or that condition of being known as union with the Divine. It would follow, of course, if this theory were true that the genuine alchemists were pure mystics, and hence, that the development of chemical science was not due to their labours, but to pseudo-alchemists who so far misunderstood their writings as to have interpreted them in a literal sense

Correctly speaking, there is no such thing as "Modern Alchemy"; not that Mysticism is dead, or that men no longer seek to apply the principles of Mysticism to phenomena on the physical plane, but they do so after another manner from that of the alchemists. A new science, however, is born amongst us, closely related on the one hand to Chemistry, on the other to Physics, but dealing with changes more profound and reactions more deeply seated than are dealt with by either of these; a science as yet without a name, unless it be the not altogether satisfactory one of "Radioactivity." It is this science, or, perhaps we should say, a certain aspect of it, to which we refer (it may be fantastically) by the expression "Modern Alchemy": the aptness of the title we hope to make plain in the course of the present chapter.

. X-Ray's and Becquerel rays.
As is commonly known, what are called X-rays are produced when an electric discharge is passed through a high-vacuum tube. It has been shown that these rays are a series of irregular pulses in the ether, which are set up when the kathode particles strike the walls of the glass vacuum tube,1 and it was found that more powerful effects can be produced by inserting a disc of platinum in the path of the kathode particles. It was M. Becquerel who first discovered that there are substances which naturally emit radiations similar to X-rays. He found that uranium compounds affected a photographic plate from which they were carefully screened, and he also showed that these uranium radiations, or "Becquerel rays," resemble X-rays in other particulars. It was already known that certain substances fluoresce (emit light) in the dark after having been exposed to sunlight, and it was thought at first that the above phenomenon exhibited by uranium salts was of a like nature, since certain uranium salts are fluorescent; but M. Becquerel found that uranium salts which had never been exposed to sunlight were still capable of affecting a photographic plate, and that this remarkable property was possessed by all uranium salts, whether fluorescent or not. This phenomenon is known as "radioactivity," and bodies which exhibit it are said to be "radioactive." Schmidt found that thorium compounds possess a similar property, and Professor Rutherford showed that thorium compounds evolved also something resembling a gas. He called this an "emanation."


The Discovery of Radium.
Mme. Curie2 determined the radioactivity of many uranium and thorium compounds, and found that there was a proportion between the radioactivity of such compounds and the quantity of uranium or thorium in them, with the remarkable exception of certain natural ores, which had a radioactivity much in excess of the normal, and, indeed, in certain cases, much greater than pure uranium. In order to throw some light on this matter, Mme. Curie prepared one of these ores by a chemical process and found that it possessed a normal radioactivity. The only logical conclusion to be drawn from these facts was that the ores in question must contain some unknown, highly radioactive substance, and the Curies were able, after very considerable labour, to extract from pitchblende (the ore with the greatest radioactivity) minute quantities of the salts of two new elements -- which they named "Polonium" and "Radium" respectively -- both of which were extremely radioactive.

M. Debierne has obtained a third radioactive substance from pitchblende, which he has called "actinium."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophers_Stone

Alchemy itself is mostly an original concept and science practiced in the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece, and India. However, the concept of ensuring youthful health apparently originated in China, while the concept of transmutating one metal into a more precious one (silver or gold) originated from the theories of the 8th century Arab alchemist, Jabir ibn Hayyan (Latinized as 'Geber'). He analyzed each Aristotelian element in terms of the four basic qualities of hotness, coldness, dryness, and moistness. Fire was both hot and dry, earth cold and dry, water cold and moist, and air hot and moist. He further theorized that every metal was a combination of these four principles, two of them interior and two exterior.

From this premise, it was reasoned that the transmutation of one metal into another could be effected by the rearrangement of its basic qualities. This change would presumably be mediated by a substance, which came to be called al-iksir in Arabic (from which the Western term "elixir" is derived). It is often considered to exist as a dry red powder made from a legendary stone — the "philosopher's stone".[citation needed]

In the 11th century, there was a debate among Muslim chemists on whether the transmutation of substances was possible. A leading opponent was Avicenna, who discredited the theory of transmutation of substances:

"Those of the chemical craft know well that no change can be effected in the different species of substances, though they can produce the appearance of such change."[2]

16th-century Swiss alchemist Philippus Paracelsus believed in the existence of alkahest which he believed to be an undiscovered element from which all other elements (earth, fire, water, air) were simply derivative forms. He believed that this element alkahest was, in fact, the philosopher's stone.

Jabir's theory and the concept of knowledge that metals like gold and silver could be hidden in alloys and ores, from which they could be recovered by the appropriate chemical treatment. Jabir himself is believed to be the inventor of aqua regia, a mixture of muriatic (hydrochloric) and nitric acids, one of the few substances that can dissolve gold (and which is still often used for gold recovery and purification).

Gold was particularly valued as a metal that would not rust, tarnish, corrode or otherwise grow corrupt. Since the philosopher's stone would turn a corruptible base metal to incorruptible gold, naturally it would similarly transform human beings from mortal (corruptible) to immortal (incorruptible).

Essentially one of the many theories was that gold was a superior form of metal, and that the philosopher's stone was even purer and superior to gold, so much so that if combined with lesser metals would turn them into superior gold.

A mystical text published in the 17th century called the Mutus Liber proported to be a sort of symbolic instruction manual towards concocting a philosopher's stone. Called the 'wordless book', this was a collection of 15 illustrations.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Templeofrosycross.png

Alchemy (the ancestor of modern chemistry), is often thought to mean the science of creating gold from base metals. The true alchemists, or philosophers of the fire, often disparagingly refer to people attempting such a feat as blowers, meaning all those who were simply interested the creation of gold and the purely material aspects of alchemy.

In his laboratory, the alchemist works on the materia prima and uses, among other tools, a furnace called an athanor. In Spiritual Alchemy [4], the materia prima is the human soul, and the athanor is the physical body and the subtle bodies. The latter maintain the life of the most dense one and assure the connection with the soul. The laboratory is human existence during which the soul can learn to perfect itself, achieving the transmutation of vices and defects (the vile metal) into virtues and qualities.

The first Rosicrucians practiced alchemy in the laboratory, which was in vogue at that epoch, of interest even to popes and kings. The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz is a major written work which clearly makes reference to this work. Current-day Rosicrucianists (like modern Freemasons, who do not construct cathedrals anymore) direct their concentration toward the work of spiritual alchemy.


3rd Natal Chart of The Rosicrucian Fellowship (1911), Oceanside, United StatesAccording to the early Manifestoes, the Rosicrucians were a "secret" Order. Their members believed or could demonstrate healing powers that were seen as a gift from God: Spiritual Healing. In the outer orders these powers were explained by Egyptian mysteries and again, differently in the hermetic Order. Members were admitted on this basis alone and the "membership" was very selective. The writers, philosophers and people of the time became curious and infuriated because they were excluded. Most of the writings of the time are biased or speculative for this reason. Many modern Rosicrucian organizations hold the belief that these God-given powers may be used to help others.

Some interpretations are described as being Rosicrucian. They are used as an idea or icon by persons or groups either Gnostic Christian or syncretists who use a great deal of Christian elements. An example would be a cult that centers on the Virgin Mary yet openly or secretly identifies her to the Virgo constellation of the Zodiac.


'Well of Initiation' (9 strata): architecture based in Templar, Rosicrucian and Masonic symbolism at the "Quinta da Regaleira" (1892-1910), Sintra, PortugalA large majority of modern Rosicrucians believe in the study of Spiritual Astrology as a key to the Spirit, to aid spiritual development and self-knowledge, as well as an aid to healing through Astro-Diagnosis. [5]

A way through which the alchemical work on the "Path of Initiation" has been expressed to the world, according to occultists such as Corinne Heline (1882-1975), is through classical music. To wit, the nine symphonies of Beethoven (1770-1827) were divided into two groups. The first, the third, the fifth, and the seventh are vigorous, powerful and of command, representing the intellect. The second, the fourth, the sixth and the eighth are elegant, ternurent, gracious and beautiful, representing the heart (intuition). They culminate in the symphony with human voices, the ninth symphony, in which the equilibrium between mind and heart or the "Chymical Wedding" ritual, where the Christ Within – the Adept – is born ("consumatun est"). Johan Herde speaks of Beethoven as "... God acts on earth through evolved men..." and Beethoven speaks of himself as "... I do not have friends, that is why I must live alone, but I know from the deepest of my heart, that God is closer to me than to others. I come close to Him without fear, because I have always known Him...".

The symbol of the rosy cross played a substantial role within the system of Thelema as developed by Aleister Crowley. In a cosmological context, the rose is Nuit, the infinitely expanded goddess of the night sky, and the cross is Hadit, the ultimately contracted atomic point. For Crowley, it was the job of the adept to identify with the appropriate symbol so to experience the mystical conjunction of opposites, which leads to attainment. In this sense, the rose cross is a grand symbol of the Great Work:

The Tau and the circle together make one form of the Rosy Cross, the uniting of subject and object which is the Great Work, and which is symbolized sometimes as this cross and circle, sometimes as the Lingam-Yoni, sometimes as the Ankh or Crux Ansata, sometimes by the Spire and Nave of a church or temple, and sometimes as a marriage feast, mystic marriage, spiritual marriage, "chymical nuptials," and in a hundred other ways. Whatever the form chosen, it is the symbol of the Great Work. [4]
Crowley also makes clear that this process is reflected in the sexual act as well:

So we need not be surprised if the Unity of Subject and Object in Consciousness which is Samadhi, the uniting of the Bride and the Lamb which is Heaven, the uniting of the Magus and the god which is Evocation, the uniting of the Man and his Holy Guardian Angel which is the seal upon the work of the Adeptus Minor, is symbolized by the geometrical unity of the circle and the square, the arithmetical unity of the 5 and the 6, and (for more universality of comprehension) the uniting of the Lingam and the Yoni, the Cross and the Rose. For as in earth-life the sexual ecstasy is the loss of self in the Beloved, the creation of a third consciousness transcending its parents, which is again reflected into matter as a child; so, immeasurably higher, upon the Plane of Spirit, Subject and Object join to disappear, leaving a transcendent unity. This third is ecstasy and death; as below, so above. [5]
The rosy cross is further symbolic of the grade of Adeptus Minor in the A.'.A.'., the Qabalistic sphere of Tiphareth on the Tree of Life, the magical formula INRI, and the concepts of Light (LVX) and Life (see: De Lege Libellum).

That "Collegium Fraternitatis" looks little bit like Howls moving castle...

lol indeed it does..

I like the symbolism of alchemy in literature.

There's alot of symbolism in spiritual alchemy (which actually grew out of physical alchemy, contrary to above), and in mysticism in general. It was partly to hide knowledge from the uninitiated. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing after all ;)

Crowley had other means as well... He'd put deliberate errors into his books designed to mislead those who didn't know better.

There's alot of symbolism in spiritual alchemy (which actually grew out of physical alchemy, contrary to above), and in mysticism in general. It was partly to hide knowledge from the uninitiated. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing after all ;)
(...)
Crowley had other means as well... He'd put deliberate errors into his books designed to mislead those who didn't know better.
Erm... and what knowledge do the initiated posses? Maybe they dont want to submit their so called knowledge to scientific scrutiny. The era of fraternities is gone, now is the time of faculties, spreading the knowledge to all people equally.
Its time to share the power of knowledge! There is no such thing as dangerous knowledge, no matter what some christian morons try to implicate.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/Redshiney/eye4.jpg

(...)
So, those "uninitiated", who tried to produce gold after reading Crowleys books failed. How about Crowley himself? :D

I know that we all need to mystify our lifes to some extend. Its a normal and healthy behaviour, but we shouldnt confuse our minds believing its real knowledge. The situation is quite awkward... we know that even the most disciplined scientist could be tempted, trying to explain what he cant comprehend. It happens all the time, mostly because some of us men need that total control over the matter and we let them do it, in order to feel secure...

Red shine´y, your are an excellent example of someone trying to explain something you know nothing about. My Mongoloid neega.

http://thecompletefloweroflife.blogspot.com/

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